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Employee Assistance Programmes cannot function without supervisor co‐operation. Personal experiences of an EAP consultant in Australia and the USA are drawn on to describe case studies of success in developing supervisor and management commitment to EAP. Some of the techniques used are outlined: custom designing of supervisory training; identifying employee problems on the basis of job performance issues; consultation with supervisors prior to employee referrals to EAP, ongoing consultation as follow‐up; monitoring of employee performance on the job.

States there is a link between the level of employee satisfaction and business performance in many of the world's leading companies — therefore engaging employee's commitment is the priority for organizations that wish to achieve/sustain leadership in industries and markets. Research by ISR (International Survey Research) measured employee satisfaction among 175,000 workers in 70 UK organizations, to assess reactions to change, establish morale levels and other portent details. Concludes that change which affects staff morale can only have a detrimental effect on companies creating a vicious spiral.

Whether clients in need of counselling should seek this of their own volition or at the behest of employer/superior/other is debated. The approaches/attitudes which are possible from the standpoint of both counsellor and counselled can vary in the light of the client′s personality and the organisation′s culture/ideology. The scenario ranges from a self‐referred client in a person‐centred setting to a coerced client in an organisationally‐oriented ideology. The former appears to be the ideal subject for counselling, whilst the latter represents the antithesis of normal counselling. In between can fall many permutations of the balance, which renders the counsellor′s job difficult in trying to achieve an outcome acceptable to both organisation and client.

Reports the emergency stopgap measures undertaken by industry giant Tele Link to counteract downward market trends and the ensuing problems caused by its Efficiency Program not being managed effectively, resulting in lingering and negative impact on surviving employees’ behaviors and attitudes, demonstrated by decreases in productivity, motivation, emotional health, job satisfaction, and confidence in management, as well as increases in absenteeism. Also reports Tele Link was unprepared to handle the inevitable pre‐announcement rumor mill and was forced to present cutbacks prematurely, lengthening the period of time from announcement to implementation and fueling anxiety at the time. While Tele Link’s handling of the Efficiency Program is well rated it did concentrate, almost entirely, on the “during” phase, with no formal plans to help survivors mourn or adjust to new circumstances. Emphasizes that the power of informal communication, in this case the “rumor mill”, should not be underestimated, and management should not overestimate their own ability to control it.

Management consultants and the managers they advise face a growing dilemma: they have few skills and generally no training in identifying potentially violent employees, and yet, managers and their company are likely to be held liable for the violent acts of employees because when employees have been killed by co‐workers, victims’ survivors have filed ‐ and won ‐ premises‐liability lawsuits against employers. When concerned consultants or managers seek to understand the growing phenomenon of workplace violence, the academic‐ and practitioner‐oriented literature offers little more than news‐oriented accounts. In an attempt to provide insights into the area of workplace violence, provides two case histories that offer anecdotal‐based insights. The two cases describe the steps used at two different employers when confronted with a potential for employee violence in the workplace.

Evaluates stress and its effect on the UK regarding time off, stating that one out of five people suffers from stress. States also that organizations now seem to be taking employee stress seriously ‐ but that does not necessarily mean a permanent solution is in sight. Proposes possible solutions using policies to deal with occupational issues.

The purpose of this paper is to examine associations between work‐family conflicts, threat appraisals, self‐efficacy, and emotional exhaustion. Threat appraisal was hypothesized to mediate relations between work‐family conflicts (work‐to‐family and family‐to‐work) and emotional exhaustion. Self‐efficacy was hypothesized to moderate relations between work‐family conflicts and threat appraisal, with relations expected to be weaker for individuals high in self‐efficacy.

University employees (n=159; 67 percent female) participated in this non‐experimental study. Data were gathered via questionnaire. Two‐thirds of participants completed measures of work‐family conflicts and threat‐appraisal a few weeks prior to completing measures of self‐efficacy and emotional exhaustion; remaining participants completed one cross‐sectional survey.

Observed relations were consistent with predicted mediation hypotheses. Contrary to predictions, self‐efficacy did not moderate relations between work‐to‐family conflict and threat‐appraisal and the relation between family‐to‐work conflict and threat‐appraisal was stronger for those with higher self‐efficacy. Self‐efficacy was negatively related to emotional exhaustion.

Organizations should foster positive work‐family climates to help alleviate work‐family conflicts. Managers should demonstrate compassion when dealing with employees who have serious family concerns, as even efficacious individuals may find such situations threatening.

This research integrates stress theories with research on the work‐family interface. The relevance of threat appraisal and the role of self‐efficacy are highlighted.

Discusses the problem of managing and empowering those employees in the USA whose employment is protected by special legislation – minority groups – when they do not work responsibly.

It is widely accepted that improvements in the management of employees can contribute to the competitive advantage of companies. Indeed, human resource management (HRM) holds that the success of business strategy hinges on the development of a more strategic approach to the management of labour. Training is an element which is central to any assessment of the effectiveness of HRM strategies, and it is linked to HRM in three major ways: (1) Companies become dependent on the external labour market for their skills supply if they neglect it. (2) It creates an incentive to develop complementary aspects of HRM in order to protect the company’s investment. (3)Training has a symbolic value in so far as it demonstrates to employees the value the company places on them and can thus contribute to motivation.

A recent article by P.B. Beaumont focused attention on the problem of alcoholism in British industry. Beaumont discussed the need for organisations to have policies for dealing with employee alcoholism and he identified a number of factors likely to be associated with successful policies. The article was quite stimulating and, accordingly, I thought it would be instructive to describe what American organisations are doing with respect not only to employee alcoholism but also the problems of drug and other emotional difficulties affecting job performance. Specifically, this article is devoted to a more thorough description of american employee assistance programmes and a discussion of some of the factors that have been found important to their successful implementation. Hopefully this information could be helpful to British as well as other American firms that continue to grapple with these kinds of problems.